I start the day reading news, locally, nationally, and from around the world. John Whitmire rarely fails to provide something to write about. Yesterday, we received reports that, after almost two years as mayor, he was finally going to try to solve the problem of trash collection, particularly heavy trash.
Yesterday, we may finally see heavy trash trucks coming around to pick up the debris.
Houston residents across the city have reached out to KPRC 2 News for weeks with one message: their trash still isn’t being picked up.
From mattresses and old furniture to tree limbs and broken appliances, neighbors say the piles are growing along with their frustration.
“The mattress… the chair… the wine bottle. It’s killing the grass. I’ve not seen the truck come by,” one person said.
It’s not just heavy trash. Houstonians say recycling and basic pickup have also fallen behind.
“We’ve been calling everywhere. Trash is still here… over a week ago,” one viewer said.
After yet another viewer reached out about mounting trash in their neighborhood, KPRC 2’s Re’Chelle Turner went straight to City Hall to get answers.
In an exclusive interview, Mayor John Whitmire shared a new plan he says will bring immediate relief.
Mayor Whitmire confirmed the city will begin partnering with private contractors starting Wednesday morning to help clear the backlog.
“We’re going to play catch-up by outsourcing to private companies, and then we’re going to come back with a new model where we will pick up on demand,” Mayor Whitmire said.
Where we will pick up on demand
Interesting choice of words on demand. What does not mean? Do we get to put heavy trash out once a month, on a specific day or time, and then call or email 311? I can picture my neighborhood full of heavy trash. I am not sure how that will work, and I don’t think the mayor does either. We can only hope and pray and expect as much luck as when I hope and pray that I win the Powerball, with a jackpot of several hundred million dollars. I do believe that my hope and prayers may have better luck with the Powerball.
Well, the media needs clicks and views, and here in Houston, John Whitmire is almost as good as Donald Trump is for the national news. At least good for something because right now, Whitmire would rate an F from me.
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Today, 12/3/2025, it is water bills.
Residents across the city say their water bills have surged dramatically in recent months—far beyond the rate increase announced by the mayor to sustain water system upgrades. – Residents in and around the Houston area are complaining that their water bills have surged dramatically in recent months.
Since September, viewers have been sending in screenshots, statements, and messages describing skyrocketing charges that appeared without warning.
And while the City Water Billing Department has issued adjustments for some customers, officials still have not provided a clear explanation for what’s causing the spikes.
Amanda Isgate-Bussey, one of the first people to reach out to KPRC 2 News after opening a bill, said she was left shocked.
“We’d been paying roughly $150 a month or so for water for several months. And then I opened it one day, and it was $2,400,” she said.
Her story mirrors dozens of others sent to our newsroom, many posted publicly across Facebook and Nextdoor.
For Isgate-Bussey, her account was eventually credited by about $470, but the reasoning behind the adjustment was unclear.
“How they arrived at $470, I have no idea,” she said. “If it was that easy for you to come up with that number, how much more money do you actually owe me had you gone back and looked at previous months and previous bills?”
The lack of a consistent explanation has raised bigger questions:
- Is this a technology failure?
- A meter-reading error?
- A billing-system glitch?
- Should meters be upgraded citywide to prevent additional mistakes?
- And even with these fixes, are there more surprise spikes on the horizon?
We’ve pressed the Water Billing Department for answers, not only for the cases we forwarded, but for every viewer who has reached out confused, worried, and in some cases, financially strained.
For many, the uncertainty is now a monthly concern.
Two of the residents here in the neighborhood had their water bills tripled; one of them was livid and asked me if that had happened to me. I told him yes and said I had gone ahead and paid it, as fighting the government is highly frustrating and not worth the stress. Even if one is correct, they have a lot of money, and it is our money, so they don’t mind spending it to frustrate us. Some years back, one of my neighbors spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to prove that the police department was wrong; he lost and never got the stolen car back. He died at a young age, in my opinion, and that stress may have had something to do with it.